Many people are concerned with the degree of pigmentation of their skin. For example, people with age spots or freckles may wish such pigmented spots to be less pronounced. Others may wish to reduce the skin darkening caused by exposure to sunlight or to lighten their natural skin color. To meet this need, many attempts have been made to develop products that reduce the pigment production in the melanocytes. However, the substances identified thus far tend to have either low efficacy or undesirable side effects, such as, for example, toxicity or skin irritation. Therefore, there is a continuing need for new skin lightening agents, with improved overall effectiveness.
Resorcinol derivatives have cosmetic skin and hair benefits. Certain resorcinol derivatives, particularly 4-substituted resorcinol derivatives, are useful in cosmetic compositions for skin lightening benefits. Resorcinol derivatives are described in many publications, including Hu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,740; Collington et al., PCT Patent Application WO 00/56702; Bradley et al., European Patent Application EP 1 134 207; Shinomiya et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,314; LaGrange et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,472; Hiroaki et al., Japanese Patent Application JP11-255638 A2; Torihara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,393; and Japanese published patent applications JP 2001-010925 and JP2000-327557. Resorcinol derivatives are known compounds and can be readily obtained by various means, including by a method wherein a saturated carboxylic acid and resorcinol are condensed in the presence of zinc chloride and the resultant condensate is reduced with zinc amalgam/hydrochloric acid (Lille, et al., Tr. Nauch-Issled. Inst. Slantsev 1969, No. 18:127-134), or by a method wherein resorcinol and a corresponding alkyl alcohol are reacted in the presence of an alumina catalyst at a high temperature of from 200 to 400° C. (British Patent No. 1,581,428). Some of these compounds can be irritating to the skin.
Applicants have now discovered that the use of 1,3-dithiane resorcinols deliver skin lightening benefits. The general chemical formulas and structures of these compounds are discussed in more detail herein below. The 1,3-dithiane resorcinos have been found to be effective and possibly less irritating to the skin and have not been used for lightening skin.